Rohingya refugees gather to mark the second anniversary of the exodus at the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, August 25, 2019. / Reuters

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By Reuters 26 August 2019

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh—At least 100,000 Rohingya refugees rallied in camps in Bangladesh on Sunday, marking two years since the start of a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar that forced more than 730,000 to flee across the border.

Massive crowds gathered in the morning on a hillside for memorial prayers for relatives killed in the violence.

The commemorations took place amid heightened tensions in parts of the camps after security forces shot dead two Rohingya on Saturday, saying they were involved in the murder of a ruling party official.

More than one million people live in the camps in southern Bangladesh in the world’s largest refugee settlement. The majority having fled violence in 2017 that the United Nations says was executed with “genocidal intent.”

“We miss our home, our relatives, our beloved ones who were killed in Myanmar,” said Chekufa, the leader of the Rohingya Women’s Empowerment and Advocacy Network, which organized one of the demonstrations. “We miss them very much today.”